CRT displays can actually be better for theatrical lighting because it has lower latency than LCD displays, but it's probably irrelevant at the scale you're using it... I'm curious about Win 95 is being used for though, would you mind expanding?

I honestly don't know how the schools handle international students, other than anecdotes. It seems unrealistic that they'd expect all international students to pay full price, but I know they don't use the same need-based formula. I'd suggest digging around on each school's financial aid pages, and/or getting in touch with someone from their aid office. That's the best way to get accurate answers.

There's a widespread misunderstanding about the cost of an Ivy education. All Ivy League schools use need-based financial aid policies. (This is for domestic students, policies differ for international student. Sorry, OP!) This means that they determine what they think your family can afford to pay, and charge you that. This means that most people don't end up paying the entire $60K+ that gets quoted everywhere. Of course, it's not always accurate for various reasons, but generally speaking, the "sticker price" is not the final price.

The following data is from BigFuture, a resource which (I believe) complies data from the Common Data Set which each school uses to self-report their figures annually. It is alphabetized by school name.

School

Tuition + Room + Board1

% receiving aid2

Avg. aid package

Brown

$59,428

46.28

$42,799

Columbia

$63,440

49.68

$44,941

Cornell Univ.3

$60,964

47.17

$44,400

Dartmouth

$61,927

50.73

$46,485

Harvard

$58,607

58.59%

$48,876

Princeton

$55,440

58.88

$42,002

Univ. of Pennsylvania4

$61,132

47.84

$43,166

Yale

$59,800

52.98%

$46,395

1 Many schools also have estimated "books and supplies", "personal expenses", and "transportation" costs. I did not include these as they vary from student to student, and are not provided by every school.

2 % receiving aid = % who applied for aid * % deemed eligible * 100

3 Not to be confused with Cornell College, a completely separate, small liberal arts college.

4 Not to be confused with Pennsylvania State University, a completely separate, very large state (publicly-funded and -run) school.

Many people do pay "sticker price," but roughly equally as many don't, and many pay far, far less. The cost of attending is frequently cited as a perceived barrier to attendance, especially among low-income students, when in reality, the $60K number is essentially meaningless to these students, because colleges will pay the difference.

Of course, numbers can be misleading, and there are sometimes funny quirks of calculating these statistics, but for the most part, they're pretty accurate. Hopefully this was informative.

Hmm, if you were already dating for five months, I'm guessing he didn't break up with you just because of one remark. It was more likely an accumulation of differences that made him realize something, or he wanted to break up for another reason (relationship was harming him academically, he was no longer interested, didn't have time, or something else) and this was a convenient reason.

Talk to him, explain you didn't mean to offend him, apologize if you did, and get his reaction. Above all, respect his wishes, if he doesn't want to be in a relationship with you, don't force it.

Ok, so decide how well you want to do on your exams. Estimate how much time that's going to require, and shoot for that. If you feel like you're falling behind, dial down the social time and refocus on school for a bit, and vice versa.

That's more than "struggling a little bit," that starts to sound like an eating disorder. I would talk to an adult you trust to get their advice and help on this. Eating disorders aren't something to mess around with.

You find a balance. There's probably nobody who hangs out with their friends every night and gets straight A's (and if there are, good for them, but they're few and far between). Decide what level grades you want to be able to maintain (this is a discussion that should probably involve your parents, especially in a couple years when college approaches), and how much time you need to expend to attain that level, then fill in the rest with social time.

You could also do it in the reverse order (decide on social time and then fill in the rest with grades), and that's up to you to decide. Which do you value more? Which will you value more in 4 years? You're only 14 according to your flair, so grades aren't horribly important yet, but they get more important with each year.

Finally, don't be afraid to adjust accordingly. Have two papers and a test this week? Maybe cut down the social time, your friends will understand. Friends doing something unusual (birthday party, concert, big movie, whatever)? Maybe you can turn in the homework a little late. It's up to you.

OP, please try to tell someone about how you're feeling. Talking about it is a great way to rid yourself of the feelings. You don't have to talk about why you feel how you do, just tell a friend or parent or sibling or counselor or coach or teacher "Hey, this is hard for me to say, but I feel pretty useless most of the time. Can you help me feel not-useless?"

Phrase it however you want, but the important thing is to talk to someone about it.

Hey friend, please please please tell someone about how you're feeling, they might be able to help you not feel that way. Tell a friend, a parent, or school counselor, or teacher, or coach, or someone, because it can get better, and they can help.

While it sounds like admin maybe isn't going about it the right way, there's probably more to it than "they hate us and don't want us to have any fun." The fire hazards are a legitimate complaint, probably enforced by the fire department. Classrooms are subject to different standards than break rooms, and a couch may be a pretty big fire hazard if it's flammable and could impede egress from the room. The fire department may have also specifically cited that room (and not the art room) at some point in the past for who knows what reason, and now as a result, admin has to be super careful about the room.

As for the LS class, that may have come about from the board of ed or the state imposing new rules about how many hours of class time and what kinds of classes you must take in order to graduate (and for the school to be certified). It may also have come from requests from the community (i.e. parents). The halting of videogames also may have stemmed from community/board of ed complaints.

This may have also been behind the movement of the dances to not-Fridays, probably some parents or board members didn't like the idea of kids going out to a dance and then partying afterward, so they're moving it to make it less feasible.

Of course, it all could be the admin trying to assert their power, especially because they're new, and it'll wane off in a bit.

If you're nervous about the drive, I find that tracing it out on Google Maps helps me loads. Look at the turns you'll have to make, use street view to get a feel for what things look like and where you're going so it'll be sorta familiar once you're actually there.

As for the girl part, well, if she invited you, she wants you there, so just relax and enjoy!

Hang in there, mate, it gets better. As for the depression, please please please reach out to someone about it, be it a counselor, club advisor, teacher, friend or family member who cares about you! The sooner you get help, the better.